Cantwell: Flood maps defy logic

With the possibility of a government shutdown looming over Capitol Hill, Congress appears unlikely to freeze the implementation of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act before it takes effect for some properties Oct. 1.

By Jessica Trufant

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jessica Trufant

Posted Sep. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 20, 2013 at 8:05 PM

By Jessica Trufant

Posted Sep. 20, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Sep 20, 2013 at 8:05 PM

» Social News

With the possibility of a government shutdown looming over Capitol Hill, Congress appears unlikely to freeze the implementation of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act before it takes effect for some properties Oct. 1.

The law puts property owners on the hook for $24 billion in paid-out claims by raising flood insurance rates and removing a grandfather clause that enabled the owners of homes built before the creation of flood maps to avoid having to pay huge insurance premiums. Effective Oct. 1, subsidized policies for homes with severe repetitive losses and businesses will increase 25 percent a year until rates reflect true risk.

Homeowners who purchased their home or policy after July 6, 2012, will begin paying full-risk rates Oct. 1, while the 25 percent annual increase is already in effect for non-primary-residence policies.

“There are people who are already subject to the law and won’t know it until their bank mails them a notice stating that they are required to start paying these rates,” state Rep. James Cantwell, D-Marshfield, said Thursday before boarding a plane back to Boston.

Cantwell spent two days in Washington, D.C., this week meeting with legislators who are deeply concerned about the law, which requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency to revamp its flood maps.

The proposed maps expand flood plains and raise water elevations in many towns, requiring thousands of property owners to purchase pricey flood insurance for the first time.

Cantwell and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined legislators from around the country at a hearing with the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Policy to discuss the unexpected costs.

“One Massachusetts resident wrote to me and said, ‘I’m 70 years old, I live on a fixed income, and I’m unable to pay the proposed flood insurance.’ That constituent and many others have said they don’t know what to do,” Warren said.

While some Shore Shore towns are the first to receive the maps, Cantwell said officials from around the state and country are catching on to the crippling changes.

Cantwell said legislators asked Congress to approve a Biggert-Waters delay, because an affordability study that FEMA must conduct will not be completed until 2015. All changes are scheduled to go into effect by late 2014.

Officials also asked FEMA to withdraw its new flood maps, which many argue are riddled with errors and assumptions, or to provide an extension to the appeal deadline for a full review.